Mostly About Organized Crime

02/08/2014

One-time highflying Fort Lauderdale lawyer Scott Rothstein accused Charlie Crist of selling judgeships while serving as Florida governor during courtroom testimony this week in an unrelated case as reported by Marc Caputo for the Miami Herald: "Crist had tapped Rothstein to the Judicial Nominating Commission for the Fourth District Court of Appeal and the Broward Circuit Court," and "under oath, Rothstein portrayed the former Republican governor, Crist, as someone who essentially sold 'a few' unspecified Broward County circuit court judicial appointments in return for political contributions."

Predictably, Crist denies the allegations as he runs to get his old job back, and his campaign dismisses Rothstein as a convicted felon with no credibility who is looking for a reduced sentence as a cooperating witness with federal prosecutors investigating political corruption in South Florida. Rothstein ran a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme involving his law firm as a front to sell phony legal settlements to investors, and got fifty years in prison for the crime.

No doubt Rothstein is a fraudster but at least some of his allegations in other matters have proven true with corroborating evidence.

For example, Rothstein cooperated with the FBI in a sting which resulted in the bust of Miami Beach wine merchant Roberto Settineri whom U.S. and Italian authorities suspect is an intermediary between the Gambino crime family and the Santa Maria de Gesu clan from Cosa Nostra or the Sicilian Mafia. Settineri was sentenced in November 2010 to four years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering.

And Crist is hardly in the position to challenge another's credibility. The former Governor is aptly called Charlie Hypocrist in the Sunshine State because he's a political chamelon and unprincipled opportunist who changes his parties and positions more frequently than Sybil changes her personality.

03/08/2013

The defendants allegedly bilked timeshare owners across the nation out of $5 million by "claiming to have
buyers for their unwanted vacation rentals" but "federal authorities
have been unable to find a single instance in which [they] actually lined up the purchase of a timeshare."

Among those charged is Pasquale "Posh" Pappalardo who "would boast about having
ties with organized crime and twice had meetings with a representative
of the Gambino organized crime family to discuss timeshare resale
operations" according to federal prosecutors.

The telemarketing company operated out of an "unmarked Fort Lauderdale storefront sandwiched between a men's bath house and a dry cleaner," and "bank records show that among the people who received payments from the
company was Roberto Settineri, a Miami Beach wine merchant who the U.S.
Attorney's Office said has acted as an intermediary between a Sicilian
Mafia crime family and the Gambino crime family in New York" as previously reported by Jon Burstein for the Sun Sentinel.

Settineri was sentenced in November 2010 to four years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering in an unrelated matter involving convicted Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein.

09/16/2012

Apparently she's a bit like Gollum from The Lord of the Rings, and she must have the precious.

Kim Rothstein, the wife of convicted Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein, has been charged by federal prosecutors in Fort Lauderdale, FL with "conspiring to hide more than $1 million in jewelry from federal authorities," and "among the items was a 12.08-carat fancy intense yellow diamond ring" as reported by Jon Burstein for the Sun Sentinel.

Scott Rothstein ran a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme involving his law firm as a front to sell phony legal settlements to investors, and he alleged pervasive public corruption and organized crime in South Florida during deposition testimony last December "arising from the bankruptcy of Rothstein's shuttered law firm, Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, and various
lawsuits filed by investors" as then reported by Jon Burstein for the Sun Sentinel:

"We were involved in public corruption with politicians," said Rothstein in transcripts of his Dec. 14 testimony released early Friday evening. "We were involved in public corruption with law enforcement. We were involved in activities with mob-related individuals. We were involved in activities involving the physical threats of other individuals. We were involved in the public corruption side of purchasing of political positions. We were involved in the manipulation of the judiciary."

Rothstein was sentenced to fifty years in prison but likely will get a reduction based on his cooperation with the FBI in a sting which resulted in the bust of Miami Beach, FL wine merchant Roberto Settineri whom U.S. and Italian authorities suspect is an intermediary between the Gambino crime family and the Santa Maria de Gesu clan from Cosa Nostra or the Sicilian Mafia. Settineri was sentenced in November 2010 to four years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The feds should declare South Florida a racketeering enterprise and put the region under receivership if Scott Rothstein is to be believed.

12/28/2011

The feds should declare South Florida a racketeering enterprise and put the region under receivership if former Fort Lauderdale attorney Scott Rothstein is to be believed.

Rothstein was convicted of running a 1.2 billion Ponzi scheme which involved using his law firm as a front to sell phony legal settlements to investors, and he alleged pervasive public corruption and organized crime in South Florida during deposition testimony "arising from the bankruptcy of Rothstein's shuttered law firm, Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, and various lawsuits filed by investors" as reported by Jon Burstein for The Palm Beach Post:

"We were involved in public corruption with politicians," said Rothstein in transcripts of his Dec. 14 testimony released early Friday evening. "We were involved in public corruption with law enforcement. We were involved in activities with mob-related individuals. We were involved in activities involving the physical threats of other individuals. We were involved in the public corruption side of purchasing of political positions. We were involved in the manipulation of the judiciary."

Rothstein alleges he paid more than $1 million to dirty cops, judges and politicians, and that he was able to stave off investigations from local law enforcment by employing off-duty cops to his personal security detail. Apparently some of the boys in blue from the Fort Lauderdale Police Department and Broward Sheriff's Office were randy fellas who copped freebies from a stable of hookers maintained by Rothstein.

However, the feds won't let Rothstein publicly name names: "a federal prosecutor sitting through the deposition prevented the disbarred attorney from answering the questions," and "that could be an indication that federal authorities believed Rothstein's answers could jeopardize ongoing investigations."

Rothstein was sentenced to fifty years in prison but likely will get a reduction based on his cooperation with the FBI in a sting which resulted in the bust of Miami Beach, FL wine merchant Roberto Settineri whom U.S. and Italian authorities suspect is an intermediary between the Gambino crime family and the Santa Maria de Gesu clan from Cosa Nostra or the Sicilian Mafia. Settineri was sentenced in November 2010 to four years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering.

It's funny but who ever would suspect that a lawyer could be so dirty? Aren't lawyers officers of the court or something, and doesn't the bar monitor the profession? Rothstein surely must be an aberration among lawyers.

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